Amusement apparatus



April 2l, 1925.

H. E. RIEHL AMUSEMENT APPARATUS Filed June 2 1923 2 Sheets-.Sheet 2 A TTUHNEYS Patented Apr. 21, 1925.

l UN ITE S HENRY nmvinn AMUSEMENT n, Application filed .Tune 2,"

a To ajZZ 'whom t may concern:

. Be it known thatI, HENRY Emma RIEHL,

i a citizen of the United States, and. a `resident `of `the cityof N ew York, borough vof l3rooklyn,"in lthe `,county-of4 Kings and State' i of NewYork, UnitedStates of America,

`have invented a newand Improved Amuse,A ment "Apparatus, i of which the following is a full, clear; and exact description..4

i My invention has for its object tofprovide` an amusement apparatus consisting of `a l vehicle which has an electric drive controllable by means connected with` `a i steering l means withljwhich the vehicle is provided.

vide power` drivenfriction discs for opera- Another `object of the invention ist-o proV tively @engaging a traction wheel, the discs l beingbmounted on pivoted armswhich permits a movement ofthe'arms by means pro` videdftobring the-,discs into operative Vposition. i

. n (Stillanotherfobject of the inventioni's to connect therpivoted arms by cables with a `pivoted steering column so that the pivoted n column.

l cfFig. 3;

jarmswith "the power driven discs may be actuated by a movement'` of; the steering Additional bbjecisof the inventa-1min appear inthe following `speciflce'ition in preferred` form of my invention is view of the Fig. 5` is an enlargedsectional view showa ing thesteering column pivotally mounted;

Fig. 6 is a sectionalview on theline 6-6 Fig. 7 's an enlarged fragmentary `view.

showing the modified form ofthe invention. j llt will be` understood that thisv invention relates to -an amusement apparatus in which `a vehicle is to be electrically driven, the

vehicle being connected electrically with a .Y conductive surface on which the `vehicle travels andwith an overhead wire netting through a trolley pole on the vehicle.

By referring to `the drawings it willY be nInHI., or BROOKLYN, Vixnw YORK.

ingsjl in each vehicle. are Qgears 23 which `are engaged by the gear APPARATUS. a

192s.- seriarno. 643,042.

seen tractionwheel 10 is thel bodyll, and that depending` from this FICE.

mounted on i bodyll there is a` bracket `12 which is dis-` posed in the planeiofmovement of the trac` tion wheel l0. This is best shown in F ig. 3 of the drawings.

The bracket 12 has twobearof-whichisjournaled a stud n lil' `mounted on abearing 15in which an armlG is n the meansprovided eachof the arms 16` is connected to the bracket 12 by auniversal joint formed VVVby the two bearings referred to, vthe arms ldiverging upwardly `as is best illustrated in F ig. Mounted on the upper journaled in .these bearings 17.9V Secured for. rotating with the shafts 18 there are fric-` tion discs 19, the friction discs l9`being dis-` posed one at each side of the traction wheel journaled. Itl will be seen that "by 3 ofthe drawings.'` end of each arm 16- j 'there is a bearing `17, theshaftslS `being I 10 so when they engage the traction wheel` 10 they Willrotate the latter. The shafts 18 are'connected withlthe shafts 2O by `universal joints 21, the shafts20being journaled in bearings 22 securedto Mounted Von, the shafts 20,v there 'wheel 24 secured to the shaft 25 ofthe motor 26, the motor 26 being secured-'to the underside of thecbody 11 and `depending therethe body` of the from as indicated in Fig. 2 of the drawings.

By` the means describedit will beunderstoodthat when the motor 26 is rotated-and theJ friction discs 119 engage the traction wheel 10 that the vehicle will be driven.

The bearings forming the universal joints connecting the armsV 16` with the bracket 12 permit of the `movement of the shafts 18 relatively tothe shafts120 without the shafts 18 binding-in the b'earings17`` i ,a

The arms 16 are moved inwardly by means connected "i with they steering column` 27, cables 2 8 being provided `which are secured to the upper ends of the arms 16 and which extend in opposite directions and around pulleys 29 and 80,the cables then extending around pulleys 31 in opposite directions and to the army32 extending from the steeringV column 27. lf desired, the cables 28 may beparted between the pulleys 29 and 8() and turn-buckles 83 may be introduced. The steering column 27is pivoted` at 34 to brackets 35 and when the steering column( 27 is moved `rearwardly as `indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 2 of the drawings, the

arm-32 will be moved forwardly to draw,V

on the cables 28 and move the upper ends of the arms 1G inwardly with the result that the friction disc 19 will engage the sides of the traction wheel 10. W ien the steering column 2T is moved forwardly lthe weight of the discs and the arms 16 will cause the upper ends of the arms 16 to move out of engagement with the traction wheel 10v indicated by the full lines in Fig. 3 of the drawings.

ln the steering column 2T there is a steering shaft on which is mounted a bracket 37 in which a steering wheel is journaled.

lt will be seen by referring to Fig. 1 of the dra v7ings that auxiliary wheels 3i) are disposed one at each side of the traction wheel 10 but it vmay be stated that when the vehicle isin operation under the best conditions that these auxiliary wheels 39 will nottouch the conductive surface on which the vehicle travels. is an additional means to prevent the vehicle from falling to one side, brackets 40 are provided and a bracket l1 is also provided which is disposed at the rear of the traction wheel l() to prevent the vehicle from tilting rearwardly.

As has been explained, the power is conveyed to the motor on the vehicle through the conductive surface on which the vehicle travels which may be conveyed through the traction wheel or through another part of the vehicle and the other contact is made by the trolley pole 42 which engages the overhead wire netting a3.

rlhe body 11 of the vehicle is oval in shape as will be seen by Fig. 1 of the drawings and the periphery is fashioned to receive a cushioning member nl which will prevent shocks and jars when two of the vehicles collide.`

In the modified forni of the invention shown in Fig. T of the drawings, bell crank levers elare pivoted, one at each side of the bracket 12 and bearings 46 are pivotally mounted on the arms d? of the bell crank levers l5. rlhe shafts 18 are journaled in the bearings l-G; secured to the arms i8 of the bell crank levers 415 there are cables a9 which are disposed around pulleys and are secured to the arm of the steering column 2T in the manner described.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. ln a vehicle having a supporting traction wheel, an arm disposed at the side of the traction wheel, the arm being pivoted at its lower end and extending upwardly and outwardly relatively to the traction wheel, a bearing -at the upper end of the arm, a shaft journaled in the bearing, a dise on the shaft foi-'engaging the traction wheel and means to move 'the upper end of the pivoted arm inwardly.

2. ln a vehicle having a supporting traction wheel, an arm, a bracket, a 'unive "il joint connecting the bracket. with the arm, a bearing on vthe arm, a shaft journaled in the bearing, a disc on the shaft for engaging the traction wheel, means to drive the shaft and 'means to move the pivoted arm in the direction of the support-ing traction wheel to bring the disc into engagement with the latter.

IE. in a vehicle lhaving a traction wheel, a bracket disposed in the plane of rotation of the traction wheel, two arms pivoted at one set of ends to the bracket, the arms diverging away from their said ends, bearings at the other set of ends of the arms, two shafts one journaled in each of the bearings, discs on the shafts for engaging the traction wheel and means to 'move the upper ends of the -pivoted arms inwardl",

a. ln a vehicle having a traction whedl, a pivoted arm having a bearing, a shaft journaled .in the bearing, a disc on the shaft for engaging the traction wheel, means to drive the shaft, steeringmeans for the vehicle and means connected with the steering means for operating the pivoted arm.

5. ln a vehicle having a traction wheel, an arm pivoted at one end and extending outwardly relatively to the traction wheel, a bearing at the other end of the arm, a shaft in the bearing, ar disc on the shaft for engaging the traction wheel, a steer-inc column movable relatively to the body of the vehicle, steering means connected with thc steering column, and 'means connected with the steering column to be operated thereby for moving thesaid other end of the pivoted arm inwardly.

HENRY ELMER RIEHL. 

